What is the reason why the uterus feels hard?

The uterus is the foundation of the female body, and it is located inside the female pelvic cavity. Generally, you cannot accurately touch the existence of the uterus with your hands. If the uterus feels hard, it may be a manifestation of uterine disease. Suffering from uterine fibroids will easily cause the uterus to harden. You need to observe more often and have an examination to understand the details. Pay more attention to rest and avoid being too tired.

Under normal circumstances, the uterus is located deep in the pelvic cavity, and it is difficult to feel the uterus in the abdomen. Even when seeing a doctor for a gynecological examination, you have to use your fingers in the vagina to lift up the uterus so that you can feel it in the lower abdomen. If you are not pregnant and you can indeed feel a hard uterus. Generally, the result of uterine fibroids is that the uterus becomes larger and can be felt in the lower abdomen. Recommendation: See a doctor as soon as possible and do an ultrasound to find out whether the condition of the uterine appendages is normal. Based on the examination results, make a clear diagnosis and cause of the disease, and then decide on a treatment plan.

Causes of uterine fibroids

The cause of uterine fibroids is still not very clear, and may involve a more complex interaction between normal muscle layer cell mutations, sex hormones and local growth factors.

A large number of clinical observations and experimental results indicate that uterine fibroids are a hormone-dependent tumor. Estrogen is the main factor that promotes the growth of fibroids. Some scholars also believe that growth hormone (GH) is also related to the growth of fibroids. GH can cooperate with estrogen to promote mitosis and promote the growth of fibroids. It is speculated that human placental lactogen (HPL) can also cooperate with estrogen to promote mitosis. It is believed that the accelerated growth of uterine fibroids during pregnancy is related to the high hormone environment during pregnancy, and HPL may also play a role.

In addition, ovarian function and hormone metabolism are controlled and regulated by higher nerve centers, so the activity of nerve centers may also play an important role in the occurrence of fibroids. Uterine fibroids are more common in women of childbearing age, widows, and those with disharmonious sexual lives. Chronic pelvic congestion caused by long-term sexual dysfunction may also be one of the causes of uterine fibroids.

In short, the occurrence and development of uterine fibroids may be the result of the combined action of multiple factors.

1. Symptoms

Most patients are asymptomatic and the disease is only discovered occasionally during pelvic examination or ultrasound. If there are symptoms, they are closely related to the location, speed, degeneration and complications of the tumor growth, but have relatively little to do with the size and number of the tumor. People with multiple subserosal fibroids may not have symptoms, but a small submucosal fibroid can often cause irregular vaginal bleeding or menorrhagia. Common clinical symptoms include:

(1) Uterine bleeding

It is the most important symptom of uterine fibroids, occurring in more than half of the patients. Among them, cyclical bleeding is the most common, which can manifest as increased menstrual volume, prolonged menstrual period or shortened cycle. It may also present as irregular vaginal bleeding that is not related to the menstrual cycle. Uterine bleeding is more common with submucosal fibroids and intramural fibroids, while subserosal fibroids rarely cause uterine bleeding.

The fibroids grow gradually, and when they cause the uterus to enlarge beyond the size of a 3-month pregnant uterus or become a larger subserosal fibroid located at the fundus of the uterus, a mass can often be felt in the abdomen, which is more obvious in the early morning when the bladder is full. The mass was solid, movable, and non-tender. When the fibroids grow to a certain size, they can cause compression symptoms of surrounding organs. Fibroids on the anterior wall of the uterus close to the bladder can cause frequent urination and urgency; giant cervical fibroids compressing the bladder can cause difficulty in urination or even urinary retention; fibroids on the posterior wall of the uterus, especially those in the isthmus or posterior lip of the cervix, can compress the rectum, causing difficulty in defecation and discomfort after defecation; giant broad ligament fibroids can compress the ureter and even cause hydronephrosis.

(3) Pain

Generally speaking, uterine fibroids do not cause pain, but many patients may complain of a feeling of heaviness in the lower abdomen and pain in the waist and back. When the pedicle of subserosal fibroids is twisted or uterine fibroids undergo red degeneration, acute abdominal pain may occur. It is not uncommon for fibroids to be combined with endometriosis or adenomyosis, which may cause dysmenorrhea.

(4) Increased leucorrhea. Enlargement of the uterine cavity, increase in endometrial glands, and pelvic congestion can cause increased leucorrhea. When submucosal fibroids of the uterus or cervix ulcerate, become infected, or necrotic, bloody or purulent leucorrhea will be produced.